Industrialization forced specialization; AI back to generalization

Industrialization yielded so much abundance and technological improvement.

It also meant more division of labor and specialization.

On the one hand, specialization has been good because it’s allowed humanity as a whole to make more progress, faster.

On the other hand, when it’s forced humans to just perform very narrow, unvaried and repetitive tasks it’s forced people to spend their lives in roles that are energy draining but not especially intellectually nourishing.

Now, it seems, we’re in a time where technology is working to try to replace as much as it can. Narrow artificial intelligence abounds right now and will continue to spread and get better. The aim: Eliminate all narrow, unvaried and repetitive tasks.

In the short term, this seems scary because it means the end of certain jobs but if it means, in the long term, the end of all jobs that aren’t especially varied or intellectually stimulating and that seems like a really positive thing.

Industrialization forced many people into narrow, soul destroying daily routines and maybe AI will liberate humans from these repetitive routines.